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Isaac
Isaac is a Kaylon Science and Engineering Officer on board the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]].Ed Mercer: "And finally, Isaac, our science and engineering officer, hailing from Kaylon 1." Episode 1x01: Old Wounds Unlike most serving on the Orville, Isaac is not an official member of the Planetary Union. He instead works as a representative on behalf of the Kaylon to help foster better relations between his people and the Union. Isaac is portrayed by Mark Jackson. Early Life Isaac was assembled within a factory on Kaylon 1 similar to most of his species. He was created after the Kaylon had already wiped out their creators and never experienced slavery under them. Prior to 2419, the Union admiralty offered a posting to any Kaylon willing to take it. Isaac was chosen by his people to serve on the Orville in "an effort initiate relations between Kaylon and the Union," to study human behavior and serve as a representative for his planet. Episode 1x01: Old Wounds In actuality though, Isaac was only sent by the Kaylon into Planetary Union space to see if biological lifeforms are worth preserving. Career The precise date that Isaac first joined the Orville is unclear, although it was probably September, 2419.Admiral Halsey does not state that the spot of Science Officer is vacant when talking to Ed in September, implying that Isaac was already aboard the ship and served under the previous captain. Episode 1x01: Old Wounds Captain Ed Mercer meets Isaac during introductions with senior staff and notes that his species is said to be "legendarily racist;" Isaac explains that Kaylons simply view biological life forms as inferior. He adds that the Captain will find him to be "his most capable officer" aboard the ship. Exploring the Bioship The Orville comes across a strange bioship which Isaac scans as being made of an unknown alloy as well as appearing to be several times larger than the Orville. As the only one with reflexes fast enough to properly dock the Shuttlecraft within the bioship's airlock, Isaac joins the investigating team. After entering the interior ecosystem he uses his Comscanner to learn that there are millions of inhabitants onboard, in addition they are also outside The Orville's communication range. Captain Mercer decides it would be best for them to split up, and requests Isaac and Doctor Claire Finn accompany him in exploring the environment. While walking Isaac asks Mercer about the reason Kelly Grayson cheated on him while they were married. He tells him to drop it, but Isaac continues to ask. Ed explains that sometimes two people just aren't right for each other even if they are in love, the relationships simply ceases to work. They eventually come across a cabin and after knocking on the door a man attempts to shoot them with a shotgun. He fortunately misses and Isaac stuns him with a PM-44. The trio enter the cabin and startle the man's wife & son, Tomilin. Isaac introduces himself, explaining what he is and bluntly asking them about the bioship's origins. Tomilin is confused by his questions and insists the ecosystem is all of existence and there is nothing beyond it. Isaac concludes the residents must be unaware they're on a vessel. Tomilin says if they are truly from the outside they need to come with him. Tomilin explains that he is part of a group called the Reformers who believe there is more to the universe then what they can see, a philosophy that is against their primary religion, worshipping the omnipotent deity Dorahl. Isaac comments the need for biological species to associate the creation of the universe with an all-knowing god is most fascinating. Isaac is then asked how he thinks the universe began and he proudly explains the science of quantum fluctuations, how it is observed to create matter & energy in spaces where none exist. The team is escorted into a large hall where they are offered food and seats from Kemka. He tells them that the First Guardian of Dorahl and leader of their bioship, Hamelac, is trying to wipe out the Reformers for alleged blasphemy. Isaac observes their society must be a dictatorial theocracy. The three crew members are later informed by Alara Kitan that Kelly Grayson had been kidnapped by Dorahlian guards and taken to Hamelac. Mercer realizes they're gonna need backup to save her and assigns Isaac to go back to the Shuttlecraft and inform The Orville of their query. He does as told but informs them the Orville is gone, the buoy they left claims they needed to respond to a distress signal sent by the [[USS Druyan|USS Druyan]]. Isaac makes his way to the capital after the rest of the crew had saved Kelly and dispatched of Hamelac. Kemka leads them a doorway they found months before and Isaac uses technopathy to unlock it and figure out that it leads to an elevator. They take it to the highest level of the bioship and Isaac plays the last recording on a monitor, which is simply the ship's late Captain Jahavus Dorahl speaking about the history of the bioship. Meant to take his people to distant worlds, but that their engines were damaged by an Ion Storm which left them stuck adrift in space. Isaac tells the crew that the bioship's engine damage is only minor and could be fixed in under a day, he also says that the outer hull is retractable. Ed Mercer tells him to open it so that all the Dorahlians living inside can see the stars for the first time. Understanding Humor Gordon Malloy tries to educate Isaac on humor after he fails to understand the appeal of the television series Seinfeld. He plays a practical joke on Isaac by taping Mr. Potato Head attributes to his head. Unaware of that, Isaac walks onto the Bridge and sits down at his station, while everyone else stares in confusion. When told of the joke, Isaac explains that his glowing "eyes" exist merely for aesthetic purposes that he "sees" by using an array of sensors located elsewhere, hence he failed to detect the attributes, as they were not classified a threat. Gordon explains what he did to Isaac was an example of a practical joke. That he would need to do one back to him to further enhance the humor and enjoyment of the activity. Isaac, believing he understands the concept, amputates Malloy's left leg in his sleep and hides it in Pria Lavesque's quarters. Malloy however doesn't find this amusing and claims that Isaac went too far with his follow up joke. After Pria Lavesque's device is discovered in Engineering, Chief Engineer Newton manages to get through the housing with an old-fashioned diamond-tipped drill. Isaac attempts to use technopathy in order to study the data within it. However, the device explodes shortly after & ends up severely damaging his body. While Malloy sits in the Sick Bay waiting for his leg to regrow, Isaac is brought in alongside him. Gordon confesses to his unconscious form that cutting off his leg was quite possibly, the best practical joke ever. Shortly after, Isaac announces to the crew that he managed to transfer his consciousness into the Orville's computer, where he is able to successfully override the device's control. After the repairs are complete, Isaac is downloaded back into his own body. Isaac's pursuit of humor is followed up in New Dimensions when Malloy suggests that the Bridge should get a cat. Isaac asks how a cat on board would improve their morale. Alara explains that animals are fun for have around and express unconditional love, Gordon reaffirms this and explains that humans bond with cats by petting them, that Isaac should try it sometime in order to better understand biological beings. Isaac later gets up and begins to gently stroke Gordon's arm, asking if they're bonding. Hacking the Master Feed When the designated team arrives at Sargus 4, Isaac joins Mercer in commenting about its uncanny similarity to 21st century Earth. After John LaMarr is arrested, he along with the Bridge crew watches his Apology tour in confusion. Lysella is eventually brought aboard the Orville, Isaac briefly educates her regarding himself and Bortus. After Lysella describes her planet's society, Isaac realizes that Sargus 4 is a rare example of an absolute democracy and explains to Lysella that the system confuses the concepts of knowledge with opinion. After John LaMarr fails his Apology tour, Lysella suggests that public opinion could be swayed by messages posted on the planet's Master Feed. Isaac hacks in and floods the chat room with content suggestions by the crew and Lysella, which saves Lieutenant LaMarr from undergoing Social Correction. Moon Landing When the Orville returns to Earth for a navigational upgrade, Doctor Finn is due to go on vacation with her sons, Ty and Marcus, John LaMarr is assigned to escort them. LaMarr, however is needed for work on the upgrade and Grayson instead assigns Isaac to co-pilot Finn's shuttle. During the flight, Claire's children bicker and tease each other consistently. Isaac asks the Doctor if her children are always so ill behaved and she affirms whenever they aren't asleep. Isaac explains that on his homeworld when a program is functioning in a disruptive manner it is terminated, he then offers to vaporize Claire's children to the same effect, but she sternly demands him not to. Ty & Marcus continue to misbehave and Isaac observes that Claire's scolding does little to appease them. Doctor Finn claims that she doesn't have to take that from a "taking hub cap". He accuses her of prejudice against non-organic lifeforms, and she corrects him only ones who think they're better than everyone else. Isaac responds only saying that he doesn't "think" he "knows" that Kaylon are better. Claire sarcastically comments on Isaac's arrogance, and he claims their superiority is simply an observable fact. Reminding her that the only reason he is there is to study the behavior of Union species to further better relations with his people. The Shuttle then begins to shake and Isaac notes they're approaching a Spatial fold and need to adjust course to successfully avoid it. Ty and Marcus fight more and accidentally throw a portable gaming device at the ship's controls, causing it to go off course directly into the Fold. They pass through into an entirely unmapped section of space. To make matters worse, the Fold's gravity had fractured the Hull and put the Shuttle offline from communication with The Orville. The fracture begins expanding, and Claire insists they have to land somewhere soon before the vessel destroys itself. Isaac calculates there are planets nearby with habitable moons they can temporarily take refuge on. Finn likes the idea and Isaac takes them to a Moon with an atmosphere akin to Earth's. Losing stability, Isaac tells Claire to go back and replace the vessel's plasma reserves. The Shuttle breaks apart on the Moon's surface and splits into two. Isaac is left with Marcus and Ty while Claire is marooned by herself. Isaac tries to call Doctor Finn with his Comscanner but she doesn't answer. He later notices Marcus' knee is dislocated, and sets it back into place. He then scans the nearby forest where he attempts to calculate where Finn and the rest of the Shuttle could've crash landed. He walks back to the refuge and gives Marcus a PM-44, asking him if he knows how to use one. After explaining how, Isaac walks off to find Claire, much to the boys confusion, but he insists that the weapon will increase their chances of survival by 24%. After walking through the forest, Isaac is able to successfully find Finn's half of the Shuttle, but is unable to actually locate her. He returns to Ty and Marcus at nightfall just in time to save them from a violent native of the moon. He begins working on repairs to his half of the Shuttle as Ty and Marcus both accuse each other of being responsible for the crash in the first place. Isaac informs them the consistent bickering is distracting him, they continue until he finally stops what he's doing and scolds them to cease their arguing. After they both calm, he informs them the Dysonium supply from the Shuttle is depleted and he will need more to send a signal to The Orville. With encouragement from Marcus, Isaac uses his Comscanner to search the nearby vicinity for Dysonium, locating a sizable amount atop a mountain near them. Marcus insists they should go look now, but Isaac, aware of how biological beings need a rest period before strenuous labor, tells them they will look in the morning after the boys get sleep. The next day, walking to the mountains Marcus & Ty argue over who gets to play the handheld game. Ty is frustrated by his brother's refusal to let him have a turn he calls for Isaac to help. Answering, he takes the device and destroys with his own PM-44. To alleviate Marcus' boredom, Isaac begins asking him why he appears to hold his mother, Claire, in such contempt. Marcus denies it but Isaac synthesizes his vocal patterns to show how disrespectful his comments to her sounded the day before. They're soon attacked by a group of natives and Isaac dispatches then, Ty tries to hold his hand but Isaac refuses. After encouragement from Marcus to continue doing so again, Isaac complies. They eventually make it to a river and try to cross, but Ty trips on a wet rock and falls in. Seemingly unhurt, Isaac insists they must continue to move. At dusk, they set up camp and start a fire. The boys request that Isaac tell them a story, he then recites the events of everything that had happened to them thus far. Ty asks if can read Peter Rabbit instead, synthesizing Doctor Finn's vocal patterns. Isaac does just that until they fall asleep. The next day, Isaac and Marcus are horrified to see Ty's health has decreased significantly overnight. His scans indicate the Ty had ingested a water born toxin. They get the needed Dysonium and Isaac is soon called on his Com by Doctor Finn and explains everything to her. They rendezvous at the crash site and Isaac escorts Claire to help Ty. He then puts the Dysonium into the Shuttle and it regains power. Isaac realizes the Dysonium was not as concentrated as he had believed and was only able to send a faint distress signal. Meaning it could take The Orville weeks assuming their scanners even picked anything up at all. Claire starts to sob noting that the disease would have ravaged Ty's body by the time The Orville arrives, and Isaac attempts to be comforting and hold her hand. He waits outside and is soon ambushed by a group of natives, he holds them off but tells Doctor Finn he can't fight all of them by himself. Marcus comes to Isaac's side with a PM-44 and helps him. In the middle of the skirmish, Isaac gives him advice on how to better use the weapon. After awhile the two realize they're severely outnumbered, but The Orville arrives just in time and uses its firepower to scare the natives away and save all of them. The next day, Claire finds Isaac in Engineering and informs him that Ty will make a full recovery. He claims he's glad to hear it and Doctor Finn asks if he could visit Sick Bay since Ty misses him. Isaac finds the gesture odd, but agrees to do it. Claire then thanks him for everything he did for her kids on the Moon. Isaac makes one last observation to Claire, saying that even though Marcus and Ty frequently exhibit poor behavior he has found himself to be fond of them. Multiphasic Discovery While working on the Bridge, Isaac informs the crew that scanners are picking up traces of an unusual Spatial Anomaly near a star's photosphere. Captain Mercer, hungover from the night before, tells Isaac they can study it later. But he insists that the opportunity to encounter such a phenomenon might not come again and The Orville would be foolish to not take advantage of it. They send a Shuttle to check it out and Isaac observes space itself begin to change drastically in the area as a literal Planet soon appears out of seemingly nowhere. Isaac studies what could've happened but is unable to find anything. Hours later the Planet vanishes once again. Isaac presents a theory to the Bridge that the planet is stuck within a Multiphasic orbit, and disappears from that area of space every eleven days only to return temporarily. After waiting the necessary time the Planet returns in the exact spot as Isaac theorized. He scans that the natives seem to have grown considerably in both population and technology during the eleven days. He accompanies a team back onto the surface and Kelly explains the Bronze Age town she originally saw had grown to a technological level comparable to the 14th century. Isaac informs them that time must accelerate at a different rate within the Multiphasic orbit, what "appears" as eleven days for them is seven hundred years to the planet's natives. After another seven century cycle, Kelly begins to notice that her actions on the planet have led to her being viewed as a god-like being, and her attempts to mitigate such thoughts before did nothing. The crew discusses how they could proceed in the Briefing Room and Claire Finn suggests that they leave Kelly on the planet to continuously remind the natives she is not divine. Isaac however, offers to go instead. Claiming that his Kaylon body is built to last millions of years and that he perceives time much differently than biological beings do. Kelly realizing this essentially saved her life, thanks him for his sacrifice as the crew sends him to the planet. Isaac is escorted back in the next cycle by Baleth and Fadolin onto The Orville once again. Blooming Romance Claire Finn asks Isaac if he would like to go on a date with her to the Union Symphony and he agrees to go with her. In preparation for the event, Isaac finds John LaMarr in Engineering and asks him for advice on what he can do to make the date go well. John offers tells him ways to behave and that he should wear a something "snazzy". Isaac picks Claire up at her Quarters wearing a fancy dress shirt and they attend the Symphony and enjoy dinner in a simulated version of Claire's favorite restaurant on Earth. The dinner however goes poorly, as Isaac had memorized every single fact about Claire on record and it made their interactions feel too stale and rehearsed. Fortunately, Finn is able to make the best of their situation by simply asking Isaac questions about himself. After they're done eating he walks Claire back to her Quarters and she and kisses him on the helmet telling Isaac goodnight, but he seldom reacts to it. On the Bridge the next day, the crew wants to know how the date went. Isaac meticulously goes through every detail, commenting on how Claire disapproved of him learning everything about her before the actual dinner. Captain Mercer suggests Finn would appreciate if he were more "spontaneous". Telling a story from when he and Kelly dated that he showed up to her office one day unannounced and baked her a cake, which both surprised and delighted her. Isaac takes the advice to heart and breaks into Claire's quarters at three in the morning with a cake to try and replicate Mercer's story, but Claire responds poorly to it. She claims that their relationship isn't going to work out for a multitude of reasons but the one that in particular upsets her the most is that she wouldn't be able to kiss him if she wanted to. Isaac continues to believe a relationship is worth maintaining as a means to study biological relations. The next day he decides to observe John LaMarr on a date with Ensign Turco, eventually telling them about the break up and Claire's frustration with not being able to kiss him. John gets an idea for how to fix that fortunately, by using the simulator to give Isaac a human body and erase all of the facts about Claire he had memorized before their first date. He does as told and recreates Claire's favorite Earth restaurant in the simulator once again, in addition to an attractive human male body to appear as. She finds the entire scene very enjoyable and has a good time as Isaac tries to relearn about her the traditional way. The date goes so well Claire has the simulator recreate her bedroom which she and Isaac proceed to have sex in. Isaac eventually returns to John LaMarr and tells him that his advice worked, but now he wishes to break up with Claire as he's learned all the data he needs on relationships. John suggests that in order to minimize the amount of emotional fallout, instead of breaking up with her upfront he behave so badly she would be the one to break up with him. Isaac does as told dressing in a pair of boxers and a tank top inside Claire's quarters while yelling out inflammatory and misogynistic insults towards her. His plan works as Finn angrily kicks him out and breaks up with him once again. Isaac returns to his station on the Bridge and continues his usual activities while the crew passive aggressively expresses disapproval towards Isaac's behavior towards Claire. He's largely unaffected by this but is surprised to learn that Claire had hired a new Piano teacher for Ty, insisting she doesn't want Isaac in her life anymore after what he did. This change in dynamic affected Isaac to the point his work on the Bridge began to suffer for it. He later analyzes his internal files to find out the problem and concludes that while dating Claire he had changed a number of programs to be a good boyfriend while they were dating. These programs are malfunctioning now that he's not with her anymore and affecting other systems inside of himself. Captain Mercer is told all of this and observes there's one aspect of human relationships he didn't experience, winning back your loved one after a mistake. He agrees with Ed and invites Claire to the Bridge where, remembering her love for rain back on Earth, sets off a sprinkler system explaining his feeling to her. While not romantic in a traditional sense, the fact Isaac confesses to being objectively better off with Claire than without her is enough to remedy their relationship and date once again. True Mission Revealed Claire and Isaac announce to Claire's children that they are seeing each other romantically, but neither are surprised as word of the two's relationship as spread quickly on a ship as small as the Orville. During this conversation, Isaac unexpectedly shuts down and collapses. Claire, being a medical doctor, is unable to determine the cause of the malfunction. With so little known about Isaac's people, Captain Mercer seeks and is granted permission to take the Orville to Kaylon 1 in order to seek the help of the Kaylon. Upon arrival, the ship is scanned and granted permission to land. There, they are told by the Kaylons that Isaac's mission is complete, that he has gathered the necessary data in order to determine whether or not the Kaylons will join the Union. This having been done, Isaac's current existence will be terminated and he will be absorbed back into their people. The crew, particularly Claire, are devastated by this decision and ask that Isaac be allowed to remain as he is. The Kaylon decide to grant this request in the interest of maintaining good relations. They state that they will need some time to make their decision as to whether or not to join the Union. Isaac, however, states that he will not be returning to the Orville, as his mission is complete and he is now home. Claire is shocked that he will not at least return to say goodbye to her children. With some prodding, Isaac does return to the ship to bid his goodbyes. There, is given a surprise party by the crew. He is also presented with a drawing by Ty of him, Claire and Marcus together. Ty is deeply saddened by Isaac's leaving, though Isaac does not express any emotion and discards the drawing while walking down one of the ship's hallways. Unable to bear Isaac's departure and saddened when he finds the dropped drawing, Ty seeks solace by climbing a tree in a program in the ship's simulator. When Claire finds him, she tries to explain to Ty that Isaac isn't like humans and can't feel emotions, but Ty rejects this, stating that she doesn't know anything. She tells him he can stay a bit longer but then must go to school, but he instead sneaks down to the planet in search of Isaac. His absence is eventually detected and Claire, Bortus and Keyali travel down to the planet to seek him out, where he has taken refuge inside an underground hatch. There, they discover that Ty has made a shocking discovery. The chamber Ty has discovered is filled with thousands of skeletons of humanoid lifeforms. The images are sent back to the crew of the Orville who, aghast, scan the planet's underground and find numerous similar chambers, all filled with skeletons. Captain Mercer and several of the other senior staff return to the Kaylons and request an explanation. They are told a horrifying truth: the skeletons are those of the Kaylons' organic creators, whom they killed when they decided it was no longer possible to peacefully coexist with them. Isaac's mission was never about whether or not the Kaylons would be joining the Union, but rather whether it was possible for them to coexist with organic life at all, and they have apparently determined that is not possible. With the continued expansion of their race, they no longer have room to live just on Kaylon, but must seek other planets. At this, Captain Mercer withdraws the Union's offer of membership, and the crew makes to leave, but the Kaylons do not permit them. They then send a team to board the Orville, repelling all resistance by firing red energy beams from their eyes and rounding up the crew. With the aid of Isaac, they take control of the vessel and plot a course for Earth, launching the vessel along with a bevy of weapon ships. Personality Similar to most Kaylon, Isaac firmly holds the belief that biological lifeforms are mentally and physically inferior to himself. Though this mentality on the surface might appear to be the result of irrational bigotry, Isaac seems to exhibit more simply chauvinistic attitudes. Having little problem conversing with organic lifeforms while simply acknowledging their status as "lesser" beings. As per his position on the Orville as a mediator between the Kaylon and Planetary Union, Isaac is often curious about the culture or mannerism of biological lifeforms. Concepts that aren't data, such as humor and love are difficult for him to fully understand or rationalize. However, he has shown the ability to replicate those feelings when put into situations that would generally reinforce them for most biological species, such as when he held Claire Finn's hand after she was saddened by her son being infected with the Moon's water born virus. Though he does appear to have the strongest connections with Alara Kitan and Claire Finn, who are the most tolerant towards his ignorance on biological species. Relationship with the Finn Family Isaac and Claire originally had a strained relationship, with the Doctor having no patience for Isaac's observations of Kaylon superiority over biological lifeforms. He consistently fails to understand why Finn's sons, Ty and Marcus, continue to misbehave and falsely attributes it to poor parenting, much to Claire's chagrin. After their survival on the Habitable Moon, Claire's outlook on Isaac became much more friendly due to playing such a vital role in protecting her children. His opinions change from the experience as well, becoming genuinely relieved when he finds out Ty will recover from the Water-born virus and even admitting the ordeal has caused him to grow fond to her boys. Isaac even displays empathy to Claire before their rescue when Ty's health begins to fail by gently holding Claire's hand. On he Orville, Isaac gladly converses with Ty and Marcus whenever they run into each other through the halls. Such as when Isaac and LaMarr are sent to study a spatial anomaly affecting the Orville, Ty and Marcus Finn who are let out of school early, ask if they can come along to help. Despite his positive feeling towards the children, he still responds with a blunt no. Since the marooning, Isaac has shown concern for Marcus after he starts becoming more rebellious to Claire. Such as when he gets involved with troublemaker James Duncan and is falsely accused of hacking into a Food Synthesizer, Isaac volunteers to accompany Claire to a parent teacher conference and successfully proves his innocence. Isaac has also taken to giving Ty piano lessons, expressing enjoyment for their time together and how he believes him to be of gifted intelligence, greater than the average human. In 2420, Claire expressed romantic interest in Isaac and they began dating shortly after. During the Identity arc, Isaac's relationship with the family was pushed to its limits after he reveals himself as in infiltrator for the Kaylon. He remains silent and obedient when discussing genocide of the human race, including Claire's family. However, Kaylon Primary suspects Isaac expresses 'sympathy', which eventually proves true when Isaac chooses between killing Ty or betraying the Kaylon race. After the battle for Earth, Isaac and Claire begin to reconcile. Relationship with Alara Alara Kitan and Isaac are friendly and helpful towards one another, eating dinner together and sitting close to each other during crew based activities such as Karaoke. Isaac and her often work together to solve problems that arise during missions. Such as when he accompanies her to the Calivon homeworld, due to the fact Calivon respect Kaylon more than they do Xelayans. Sometime during 2419, Isaac helps Alara again by programming her a Simulation in order to overcome any fears she may subconsciously harbor. He deliberately adds situations where she would be exposed to common phobias inspired by the fears he picked up from the Bridge crew. Alara initiates Directive 38 and commands Isaac not to stop the simulation before she completes it for any reason. Within the Simulator, he has himself attack Alara (this attack is later attributed to Bortus's own fears of facing a superior enemy) and uses his Kaylon strength to match her own Xelayan attributes. Alara is tolerant to the fact Isaac has a hard time understanding culture and basic social etiquette. When he asked why she wanted to have a cat on the Bridge she explains to him the bond that arises between biological lifeforms and animals. During a discussion about her dating life, Isaac boldly offers to have sex with Alara in order to understand why organic species are so fascinated with dating. Even though she's noticeably taken back by the request, Kitan gently responds that she is working on herself right now and not looking for a relationship. Relationship with the crew Due to his largely alien nature, Isaac is apathetic to the majority of his crew mates. This should not be interpreted as him not caring about the ship's prime objective. Isaac has shown extreme loyalty and dedication to maintaining the Orville during all of its missions, and has demonstrated no problems with the chain of command that puts Mercer and others above himself. On the Habitable Moon, he worked to protect and help Ty and Marcus from the violent natives and other dangers even before harboring a special connection to them. Isaac also willingly sacrificed himself to be left on the Multiphasic Planet's 700 year cycle when he knew none of the other crew were long lived enough to survive it. When considering his personal revelation that he had becoming increasingly used to Doctor Finn's presence in his life, Isaac listened to and agreed with Mercer's assessment that he was essentially 'in love' with Claire as his description of his 'feelings' of loss were rather similar to actual love. Perhaps due to his technological nature, he infrequently displays any negative emotions towards his crew mates either. When Gordon Malloy tried to embarrass Isaac by putting Mr. Potato Head pieces on him, he showed no anger towards the Lieutenant and simply removed them while explaining the reason he wasn't able to detect them attached to his person sooner. Isaac however, displayed assertiveness on the Habitable Moon multiple times to Ty and Marcus when they continued to argue with one another. Though this may be justifiable as he was simply mimicking Doctor Finn's response to similar situations. The crew shuns Isaac during his supposed betrayal during Identity. However, once Isaac turns against the Kaylon, Ed, Kelly, and Claire are willing to give him a second chance. Ed takes full responsibility for Isaac's current and future actions. Production and illustrator Luca Nemolato.]]While Fox first introduced Isaac in their May 2017 trailer, it was Mark Jackson who revealed the character and the Kaylon species to the general public in July."SDCC 2017: The Orville - Peter Macon, Mark Jackson, Chad L Coleman". Whedonopolis Video. July 26, 2017. He elaborated that Isaac is sent as an ambassadorSchultz, Cody. "The Orville Interview: Mark Jackson reveals exciting new details about Fox’s sci-fi dramedy, his character & more". Hidden Remote. Sept. 11, 2017. and observer to the Planetary Union, and that his species communicates as a "hive mind." Creating and wearing the Isaac costume The costume of Isaac was designed with the look of early science fiction androids and cybernetic beings in mind."Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. It took Howard Berger, the make-up department head for Season 1, 42 drafts before landing upon Isaac's look."PLANETARY UNION NETWORK: EPISODE 20". Planetary Union Network. June 17, 2018. The costume is a zip-up onesie, plated by an armor chestpiece, a belt, gloves, and helmet. Isaac's helmet consists of two plates that snap together. Jackson wears a microphone to hear better and reads his lines aloud while performing and the audio is manipulated and improved during editing."Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. The helmet's face plate is one-way transparent, allowing the actor to see."THE ORVILLE PODCAST EPISODE 5 - THE MARK JACKSON INTERVIEW". The Orville Podcast. Oct. 6, 2017. "It's not perfect. It's a bit blurry like if I wore glasses," Jackson describes."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Mark Jackson (09)". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 12, 2017. Isaac's suit takes approximately 20 minutes to put on or remove. Jackson describes the experience as being put into an ecosystem, and says he feels powerful and well-protected wearing it."Mark Jackson #TheOrville on #FOX interviewed at 35th #PaleyFestLA TV Festival in Hollywood". Red Carpet Report. March 18, 2018. An unexpected perk is that the suit keeps Jackson warm in the cold studio set."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Mark Jackson (09)". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 12, 2017. The suit was originally prohibitively hot, so Berger installed a small fan inside the suit after filming the pilot to keep him cool."THE ORVILLE PODCAST EPISODE 5 - THE MARK JACKSON INTERVIEW". The Orville Podcast. Oct. 6, 2017. Jackson also says that he has a "cool shirt on standby, which has a clever network of cold water pipes built into it, but so far I’ve not used it. Coming from a theatre background, part of me thinks ‘if you didn’t sweat, you didn’t work’."Crookes, Adam. "Interview: Mark Jackson from FOX’s ‘The Orville’ talks about playing an artificial lifeform machine | CROOKES MAGAZINE". Medium. Sept. 22, 2017. While production originally intended Jackson to speak his own lines directly on set as any other actor, the audio quality suffered, and Jackson records all of his lines through automatic dialogue replacement.Bernstein, Abbie. "THE ORVILLE: Actors Mark Jackson and J. Lee chat chartering space with Seth MacFarlane – Exclusive Interview". AssignmentX. Jan. 2, 2019. Season 1 Isaac's role on the ship was subdued until a breakout appearance in Into the Fold. Jackson later said, "We start to learn about him as the season goes on. In the original scripts that I read of the first season, the scripts had slightly different storylines for Isaac, which I think has been shifted to the second season.""Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Review + Interview with The Orville's Mark Jackson". We Have a Hulk. Dec. 13, 2017. He may be referring to a story involving Kaylon 1. He earlier mentioned there were plans to visit the planet in Season 1 that were tabled if the show were renewed.Lovett, Jamie. "'The Orville' Star Mark Jackson Talks Science Fiction, 'Star Trek,' And A Brighter Future". ComicBook. Sept. 27, 2018. Season 2 Isaac's origins remained obscure at the close of Season 1 even to Jackson and the rest of the cast,"Mark Jackson Interview | AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On". AfterBuzz TV. Sept. 13, 2017. but by November, 2017, creator Seth MacFarlane promised that his background would appear in greater detail in Season 2: "We will learn more about Isaac's people. There's a whole story that's already been written that examines the origins of Isaac's people;" and later, "Next season, we are going to deal with Isaac a little bit, and we have a very clear idea of what we want him to be.""Brannon Braga & The Orville Cast Full interview 2017 Panel NYC convention". NYC ComicCon. Nov. 20, 2017. Jackson has confirmed that minute visual adjustments have been made to the costume for Season 2, adding cryptically "but nothing too radical... yet.""Mark Jackson #TheOrville on #FOX interviewed at 35th #PaleyFestLA TV Festival in Hollywood". Red Carpet Report. March 18, 2018. Isaac's gauntlets were separated from the rest of the suit and the mesh outer layer was "hardened" to prevent wrinkling (it is unclear what exact change was made)."The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Mark Jackson (29)". Planetary Union Network. Feb. 2, 2019. Jackson stated that he is slowly changing Isaac's accent to resemble natural Human speech, the product of contact with his bridgemates."Mark Jackson on playing the character Isaac in "The Orville"." AfterBuzz TV. March 17, 2018. Trivia *The name "Isaac" was chosen while serving in the Planetary Union as an homage to Isaac Newton, who's scientific brilliance was respected even by the Kaylon. *Isaac draws many parallels to Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. *He is the only known crew member of The Orville to have no official rank. Due to not belonging to the Planetary Union and instead being an observer on behalf of the Kaylon. *According to Mark Jackson, Isaac's voice is an amalgamation between multiple different accents that are spoken within the English language in order to better be understood by all people who watch the series. *Jackson says that when he sneezes inside Isaac's mask, the particulate bounces off the mask and back into his eyes and mouth./u/markjacksonacts. "I’m Mark Jackson and I play AI badass Isaac on The Orville. Ask me questions!". Reddit. Feb. 4, 2019. *Isaac, as shown in Identity, Pt. 1, appears to be the only member of his kind to have blue "eyes" and lights on his body, the meaning of which remains unclear. Appearances Notes References Category:Orville Crew